Erowid References Database
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Pope, HG Jr., Ionescu-Pioggia, M, and Pope, KW.
“Drug use and life style among college undergraduates: a 30-year longitudinal study”.
American Journal of Psychiatry. 2001;158(9):1519-1521.
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The authors examined trends in the prevalence of substance use and its relationship to attributes of life style among college students over a 30-year period.
METHODS: They distributed anonymous questionnaires to 796 seniors at a large New England college in 1999, using methods essentially identical to those of their previous studies at the same college in 1969, 1978, and 1989.
RESULTS: Most forms of drug use rose to a peak in 1978 then fell over the next 21 years, except for use of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine ('ecstasy'). On several variables, college substance users differed more sharply from nonusers in 1999 than in previous decades. CONCLUSIONS: Although the study was limited to students at a single institution, its findings suggest that college drug use is generally declining and that users have increasingly diverged from nonusers in their values and life style.
Ilsa's Summary
In 1999, 10.1% (approximately 80) of 796 seniors attending a large New England college reported taking ecstasy at least once in their lives. Reported lifetime use of ecstasy had increased from lifetime use reported in 1989, when 4.1% of 369 undergraduates (approximately 15) reported using ecstasy. Overall, drug use on this campus peaked in 1978 and has since declined, while alcohol consumption has remained stable over all times sampled (1969, 1978, 1989 and 1999). In 1999, undergraduates who used drugs were more likely to be sexually active and to have visited a psychiatrist, whereas undergraduates who used drugs and those who did not were less distinguishable from each other in previous years.
[Erowid Note: This article fails to mention two important pieces of information. The drug using students scored better than the non drug using students on grades (about 10% better) and all the 'large New England College' studied was Harvard.]
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